DFC-AAS: October 09 – Ken Zoll
Lecture Opportunity:
Ken Zoll presents, Prehistoric Southwest Infrastructure and Movement. The movement of goods from one part of the country to another is an intriguing subject. Economics, religions and esthetics furnished the driving force with transportation a romantic intermediary. As trade plays such a lively part of our own lives, we may wonder about trade in the pre-Columbian past. Peoples of the Southwest and Mexico used various corridors for trade and as a communication network for hundreds of years before the arrival of European settlers. Ken discusses ancient trade routes that supplied Southwest Native American tribes with goods from Mesoamerica. Marine shells, parrots, macaws, chocolate and copper objects came from the south. In return, Southwestern peoples sent locally produced items south such as turquoise, peridot, serpentine, garnet and other semiprecious stones as well as pottery, salt, and earthen pigments. Many of these ancient trails are today’s modern highways.
Ken Zoll is the Executive Director of the Verde Valley Archaeology Center in Camp Verde, Arizona. Ken is also the Regional Coordinator for the site steward program with the Arizona State Parks and Trails, and a volunteer docent at cultural heritage sites in the Coconino National Forest. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in ancient astronomical practices of the Southwest and is a certified instructor in ancient astronomy fieldwork. Ken is the author of several books on local ancient rock art and astronomical practices, as well as several articles in professional journals on his studies. He received his B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Loyola University Chicago and retired to Sedona in 2004, after 35 years of Federal service.
The public may attend an Arizona Archaeology Society – Desert Foothills Chapter meeting at no charge, except for the holiday party in December. The AAS-DFC meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, September through May.
Reception and socialization at 7:00 pm, program begins approximately 7:30 pm.